


Together, we will

by Jahaliel



Category: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Time Travel AU, Wolf goes back in time, currently a one-shot may add a second chapter if inspiration hits, finds his parents before the world burned, relatively happy AU, then finds his lord for a second chance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 02:51:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18908032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jahaliel/pseuds/Jahaliel
Summary: When everything went wrong the Divine Dragon gave Wolf a different kind of gift.Now he's in the past with a second chance at fixing things.





	Together, we will

**Author's Note:**

  * For [voids](https://archiveofourown.org/users/voids/gifts).



> inspired by the TT!AU voids/@ornstein on tumblr wrote which was sad and beautiful and you should all go [read it too.](https://ornstein.tumblr.com/post/184350829981/wolf-traveling-back-in-time-meeting-his)

He shows up on their doorstep as winter gives way to spring. A young-old man with heartbreak hidden in his eyes and hair streaked with white. Everything about him screams that he is dangerous, from the sword at his hip to the strange mechanical left arm he bears. But he offers to help them with the planting in exchange for shelter, and they could use the help. He plants alongside her and her husband in silence - but she catches him smiling at her son, whose enthusiasm is boundless, and she watches with approval when he gives her boy a ride back to the house.

Eventually they find out his name is Wolf, and they do not press further. But she watches how he smiles and how her husband smiles and they could be the same smile - and she shakes the thought away. (He isn’t thinking about that either, or about how his eyes are the shape of hers). He becomes a quiet presence in their lives, and they do not question it. Then war comes and disrupts everything they’ve built together.

They are shaken awake - there’s no light at all, it must be very early in the morning. Wolf is crouched by their bed and when he sees them respond, he tells them “please, come with me. quickly.” There’s something in his tone that makes them hurry, by the time they are out of bed he’s fetched their still-sleeping son, holding him as if he were made of fragile and precious ceramic. His sword is at his hip, and everything about him speaks of tension. "Hurry,“ he says, and leads them to the little underground shelter he’d made over the turning seasons, "Stay quiet,” he asks and they nod, reacting to the plea in his words.

He leaves and hours pass, there’s food and a lamp and so they wait. When he returns, he smells of fire and death - and he sits by them telling them of the fighting that had passed through and around the area. He pulls out a map, “they were heading north, towards Ashina. I, I don’t think it’s safe for you to stay here. Is there somewhere you could go further away?”  
She sees the way he’s watching them, especially their son and it makes sense, perhaps that he had come to them as a guardian for their little boy, “I have family, they’re about three weeks away and to the southwest. They’re always encouraging us to visit..”  
Wolf nods, “That may do. Here, I’ve marked places you could rest on the map.” he passes it to them “you should leave as soon as you can. Stay off the roads if possible.”  
“You won’t come with us.” It’s not a question but the father waits for an answer.  
“I will be heading north as well.”

They go, and despite his words Wolf follows them. Silently and invisibly protecting the family that… that he had been glad to get to know. When they arrive and are greeted by cheerful relatives, he feels like he has done all he can and vanishes into the forests. The fighting is fierce and it’s in a way far more comforting than the quiet seasons Wolf had spent farming, because this is what he knows, this is who he is and when he walks the battlefield he hears the soft approach of another man and turns, looking up at the man who a lifetime ago had raised him to be this.

“You’re a shinobi. Do you have a name?”  
“Wolf.”  
“That’s an odd arm you have there Wolf - I’ve seen it’s like once before…”  
“It was a gift from a friend.”  
“Hmmm…” Owl turns as if too leave but Wolf waits, knowing the ploy for what it is. Their swords clash and he does not buckle.  
Owl laughs “A Wolf with fangs! Well, if you wish it, you would be welcome to join me.”  
Wolf tilts his head, his arms still steady beneath the pressure of Owl’s blade “Why?”  
“Because you’ve got great skill - I would not see it wasted.”  
“Alright.” In the end, while he’s pleased that the young boy he had been would never see the battlefield - his heart has always been crying out to be reunited with his lord - maybe this time he’s learned enough to not fail his boy.

It’s odd to be treated as an equal by Butterfly and Owl, to win as many fights as he loses when they spar. But there’s something in him that finds comfort in this second chance to better know those he’d once held in such high esteem. He and Butterfly often spend time on the rooftops watching the moon, he loves listening to her speak on illusions - she offers to teach him but he shakes his head, smiling. Time passes - and he does not age much, the white in his hair doesn’t spread and he gets teased a little for it, but that was part of the gift that had seen him here in the first place, a second chance to make things right.

There comes the day when Owl tells him of a task - a young lord to protect, something that a man of his skill should find to be suitable. And he agrees, reluctantly because if the elder Shinobi knew how much he wanted this, well he’s not willing to give Owl that much of an advantage. The meeting takes place at Hirata estate - where Wolf will stay to shadow the lordling. And when he kneels down and meets his lord again something settles in Wolf’s heart.

That evening they are alone for the first time and Kuro comes over to where he is sitting against the wall, keeping watch. Kuro reaches out, his hand almost touching the prosthetic.  
“Does it concern you my lord?” he asks, it’s an advantage but if it discomforts Kuro he’ll work something out.  
“Only in that, my Wolf, when first I met him had no such tool.”  
“My lord…” Wolf struggle to control his shock and find the right words, “If I spoke of incense, would that have meaning to you?”  
“Yes, it would. But where is the young man who would have stood here?”  
“Safely with his parents far from here. Or maybe he’s moved out to strike up his own path, I do not know.”

He offers a hand to Kuro, and when it’s accepted pulls the boy in close for a hug. "You remember.“  
"I do.”  
“Then forgive me for my failures.”  
“How many times did you die for me Wolf? How many times did you return for my sake? I will hear no talk of failures. And this time, we’ll do better.”  
“Yes. We will.”


End file.
